Black and White Work - Sian Martin

Sian Martin showing us her "Eye" which was made by another group

Sian flew over from Gloucester in appalling weather to give us a very interesting talk entitled "Stitched Connections". Her interest in embroidery began when small, sitting under the table that her mother was working at and pushing the needle back up through the cloth. Her father was a graphic designer and helped her mother design the alter frontal for Bangor Cathedral which she embroidered. Her mother was a professional  embroideress. She remembered Constance Howard and bought a piece of material that she had been given by her and encouraged us all to take a bit.The workshop was inspirational. Sian spread her enthusiasm over everyone and encouraged us all to interpret a 4 inch square taken from a photograph in black and white.  We had no idea what the whole picture would be until the end of the afternoon when she put them all together and lo and behold! there was the Laxey Wheel! Helen Sargent, Sheila Dove and Sian carried on into the evening putting it all together so that it could be exhibited at the Queenie Festival. There is still work to be done but it caused a great deal of interest and is a very lively and vibrant piece of work. Well done, all who attended and our thanks to Helen, Sheila and Sian for getting it sewn together.

Sue Carine

Marian, Janet and Sheila

Sian Martin with the original print and some black and white samples

Sian hard at work displaying work on our new display boards

Maureen concentrating very hard!

Janet surrounded with bits

Sue and Jane hard at work

Marie pondering what to do next!

Gathered round to see what we have produced

Sian's original black and white print

Our semi finished piece. Isn't it fabulous!

Utter amazement that it has come together!

Ooak Teddy Bears

Barbara Kelly ran a workshop making these cute little creatures. They have movable limbs. Each one was different and had attitude! Their expressions caused great hilarity.

Show and Tell

 Win Quayle and Jose Ellis admiring the work.

 Liz Brand showing a beaded Russian headress.

Sheila Dove presenting her colourful piece of canvaswork.

We all gathered round tables set out in a square so that everyone could chat to everyone else and see what was going on. There was a lot of laughter too.The evening was very well attended with some extremely interesting pieces of work brought along together with stories attached. Altogether a successful and enjoyable evening.

The Red Bag

This bag was made as a raffle prize for the Embroiderer's Guild AGM held in Southport. Each patch was made by individual members. Helen Sargent put them together to a pattern of  Katie Chaplin's.   She very cleverly embroidered the three legs on the base. It was won by Betty Mansfield. She used to come over to the island to see one of the founders of the Isle of Man Branch, Alison Quayle. Betty helped to organise the City and Guild course at the College of Further Education. It is very sad as now she is suffering from MS and wheelchair bound. She can no longer sew but is giving all the goodies to her grand daughter but keeping the bag as she loved it so much.

Young Embroiderer's

This colourful band of Young Embroiderer's had a wonderful afternoon making picture frames by cutting up delicious fabrics and threads bought along by Stella, arranging them on Bondaweb
using the iron to secure before layering with sheer fabric to hold in place. They then folded the material round card and secured with double sided sticky tape before sticking the backing on. Some lucky mothers are going to be so pleased on Sunday!

A Mixed Media Peice - Workshop by Pat Kelly

Pat gave us an exceptionally interesting and informative day generously sharing many of her hard won techniques with us. These included transferring printed computer images onto fabric using bondaweb, using gesso and high gloss gel to alter the surface of the fabric,stenciling and mono printing.





There was much lively discussion as to how these techniques could be used with some very interesting ideas formulating.We look forward to seeing the results.



Lots of food for thought! Many thanks Pat for once again giving us such an inspiring day.

Young Embroiderer's

These are some of the completed postcards stitched by our Young Embroiderer's. They used Running,Fly and Blanket Stitch and French knots and learnt how to piece strips together and use bondaweb in order to make a simple image. Well done girls!